Whispers of the Past
by RumpelstiltskinDearie
Summary: Mr. Gold is living his happily ever after. He has his lovely wife, Belle, back. He has four children. He has found Baelfire, so he supposes he has five children, though Bae is all grown up and in college now. But then all of that changes. WARNING: Kidnapping happens in this, so that might be an issue for some of you? I dunno.
1. Chapter 1: The Gold Family

**Whispers From The Past  
by Gwin Gold**

**Author's Note: **So, this is a fanfiction featuring the children of Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. Here's a bit of explanation for the names, and why I chose them:  
They have four children. Arien, Sovann, and Eira are triplets.  
Arien's name means 'enchanted'. Belle and Rumpel chose his name to remind them of their magic, and the vow they took not to use it, even though Rumpel had brought it back. He found Baelfire, and then promised Belle he would never use his magic again.  
Sovann's name means 'like gold'. It's probably obvious why they chose that name for him, so I'll continue on.  
Eira is their only little girl. Her name means 'mercy'. Rumpel chose this one purposefully, to always remind him of the mercy and forgiveness Belle had shown him; to remind him never to make the same mistakes again.  
Then they have a fourth son, just a toddler (four years old), named Dusan. His name means 'soul; spirit'. Rumpel and Belle named him that for no other reason than they liked the name and its meaning.

And there you have that. Lots of angst and fluff and stuff that all ye Rumbelle fans like-though I ought to warn you that this story focuses on the children. There'll be plenty of Rumbelle too, though (maybe not right in the beginning, but soon enough)! On with the story! :)

-X-X-X-

Chapter One  
The Gold Family

*8*8*

"It's time for supper, you three! Come inside!" Belle's voice drifted out into the evening.

The drooping branches of the weeping willow tree in the back of the garden rustled wildly for a minute, and three children appeared.

"Can't we stay out here for five more minutes?" pleaded Sovann. He was the more strongly built of his siblings; not quite muscular, seeing as he was only twelve (though he would be sure to tell you that he would be thirteen in exactly two weeks and five days). He has dark, golden-brown hair that was cut to just above his shoulders and curly-just like his father's had been, once upon a time in a fairy tale land.

"Yeah, the Faerie Council hasn't ended yet!" protested Arien. "They were about to crown Eira queen!" His hair was a golden color, and people often debated on whether it would change to a brown color like his parents' as he grew older, or if it would stay blond.

"And Arien was going to be king," Eira piped up. She was slender, like Arien, with sapphire blue eyes and dark hair.

The twelve-year-old triplets were inseparable. Their favorite pastime at the moment was to act out scenes from Sovann's stories-he was an avid writer, and Mr. Gold was constantly having to buy him new notebooks.

"Tell the Faerie Council to wait for their king and queen to finish supper first." Now their father's lilting Scottish accent reached them from across the garden. "That goes for their brother as well."

"But, Da-" All three started to protest in unison.

"All right, I know when I'm beaten." They could almost imagine their father throwing up his hands in resignation. "I'll just go and tell our dinner guest that you are unable to come in right now."

"Dinner guest?" Arien repeated curiously, his blue eyes brightening.

Then Sovann, Eira, and Arien heard the back door shut. They looked at each other, and then bolted towards the house. It was just as they had suspected.

Their playful and ever mischievous father had locked them out.

"Da, come on!" Sovann complained loudly, pounding on the door with one fist. "Open the door!"

Eira, despite the fact she should be annoyed-like her brothers were-found herself giggling at her father's antics.

Just as Sovann readied himself to begin another assault on the door, it swung open, making him stumble forward. He found himself caught by the hands of...

"Bae!" the three children exclaimed. All of them lunged for their older brother, nearly knocking him over.

"All right, all right, not all at once!" Baelfire laughed. Over his shoulder, he called, "Now, Papa, you know better than to lock your children outside."

Gold smirked, leaning against the doorway that led into the dining room. Belle stood next to him, smiling. "Well, they were asking for it, Bae. They said they wanted to stay outside, and so I let them."

"The Faerie Council was making me and Arien the king and queen of their realm," Eira explained. "Look!" She held up a little crown made of long grass and buttercups woven together. Arien had a similar one in his hands, carefully woven with sprigs of holly instead of the glossy yellow flowers.

"Aren't you three getting a little old for playing game-" Gold started. He was silenced by a nudge to the ribs by Belle. "Er, never mind, dearies."

"I see. And Papa pulled you away from the ceremony?" Baelfire said, crossing his arms with a mock glare at Gold.

"Yes." Sovann nodded.

"Well, it just so happens that I am a good friend of the Faeries, and they've allowed me to do such ceremonies in the past," Baelfire replied, dark eyes glittering. "Right, so. Arien, Eira, let me have your crowns."

The two of them did so. Baelfire told them to kneel down, and they did that as well.

"I hereby declare you, Arien and Eira Gold, the rightful rulers of the Faerie Realm. We are certain that you will use your wisdom and courage to lead us and protect us. As a token of our gratitude, we present you these crowns."

With those words, Baelfire carefully set the two crowns upon his younger siblings' heads. "You may rise, Your Majesties."

With identically bright grins on their faces, Eira and Arian stood up. Baelfire and Sovann bowed low.

Following along, Mr. Gold bowed as well, while Belle gave a delicate curtsy. After a moment, all four of them straightened up.

"Well, now that you've finished with the ceremony, why don't we go and eat supper before it gets cold?" Belle inquired cheerfully, tucking a stray lock of chestnut hair behind her ear.

There were enthusiastic agreements, now that the children were satisfied. As they went into the kitchen, Sovann said to Baelfire, "You know, that ceremony you held was better than the one in my novel. Do you mind if I use it?" To which Baelfire told him to go right ahead.

All of them sat down at the table, except for Belle. "Dusan is in his room, playing. I'll go get him." She left.

"So, Bae, how is college treating you?" asked Gold, spreading a cloth napkin in his lap.

"Fairly well." Baelfire took a bite of his lasagna. "After this next semester, I should be able to graduate."

Baelfire was studying psychology, among other things, in college. His goal was to be a children's therapist; not unlike Archie, though he was only going to focus on children and teenagers.

"Wonderful!" Gold exclaimed, his pride clear in his voice. "You're going to go so far, Bae. So much farther than I ever could."

"Now, Papa, that's not true. Look at your life now; you've got a beautiful wife, four great kids, and a nice house..." Baelfire gave his father a warm smile. "You've done good for yourself."

Belle returned to the kitchen just then, a fair-haired little boy in her arms. "Dusan, say hello to your brother Bae," she encouraged, setting him down.

The toddler hesitated, wavering slightly, before tottering over to Baelfire. "Bae!" he piped, tripping just as he reached the table. Luckily, he fell against Baelfire's leg.

"Hey there, Dusan." Baelfire chuckled, lifting the little boy up to sit on his lap. "And what have you been up to?"

"Playin'," Dusan replied. A look of comical seriousness appeared on his face, making Gold fight back a grin.

Baelfire let out a gasp. "Really? Well, that's important, isn't it? After you finish supper, you can go play some more."

Dusan nodded vigorously, nearly falling off of Baelfire's lap in the process. Baelfire carefully set him down, and the toddler made his way over to his chair. It had several thick books on it; he refused to use a high chair.

"He's definitely adorable," Baelfire said, laughing quietly.

"Aye," Gold agreed. "Just like his mother." He leaned over and gave her a long kiss on the cheek. The three older children complained. ("Da, cut out the mushy stuff!")

After that, though, dinner went uneventfully. Belle and Gold spent most of the time talking with Baelfire. Arien, Eira, and Sovann hurried through dinner, and started for the back door.

"Ah, ah, ah," Gold called after them. "Dearies, it's too late to go back in the garden. Go take your baths, and get ready for bed."

A chorus of 'aw!'s and 'but, Da!'s filled the room. Of course, after Mr. Gold gave them a frown to show them he meant business, they scurried upstairs.

After baths were over, the triplets converged in the bedroom belonging to Sovann and Arien.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" asked Eira, sitting on the edge of Sovann's bed and swinging her legs. She was dressed in a lavender-colored nightgown that was getting a little too short for her 5'0 frame. The buttercup crown was on her head once again.

"We have school, remember?" Sovann replied. "You've got the days mixed up again."

"Oh. I thought it was Saturday." Eira sighed. "School is boring."

"Very boring," Arien agreed. Both he and Sovann were shirtless; it was much too warm a night to wear pajamas, at least for them. He had placed his holly crown on the nightstand next to his bed.

"Well, we can do something fun after school," Sovann said. "So stop complaining. I'll think of something."

Just then, Baelfire poked his head into the room. "Hey, Eira. Time to go to your own room. Papa instructed me to put you all to bed."

"Oh, come on!" Eira protested. "He sent Eldest Brother to tuck us up? We're too old for that!"

"Yes, but you're just old enough to stay in here instead of go to bed," Baelfire countered. "So, come on."

Eira heaved a sigh and jumped off the bed. "Night, Arien. Night, 'Vann."

"G'night, Eira," Sovann replied. Arien nodded in reply. With that, Baelfire led Eira out of the room...

*8*8*

It was just past midnight when Sovann and Arien were awakened by a terrified scream.

-X-X-X-

**Author's Note: **Well, how'd you like it? I ended on a cliffhangar on purpose, of course. XD  
And the amount of fluff my mind came up with made me sit here going, "Awww!" the whole time. Especially the whole 'crowning-of-Arien-and-Eira-as-king-and-queen' bit. And Rumpel and Belle bowing/curtseying to them. Major fluff factor.  
Read and review, please! :)


	2. Chapter 2: Stolen!

Chapter Two  
Stolen!

*8*8*

Sovann and Arien leapt out of bed and raced out into the hallway.

Belle was standing outside of Dusan's room, sobbing uncontrollably. Gold stood beside her, his arms wrapped protectively around her. His face was stricken.

This alone was enough to frighten Arien and Sovann. Their father almost never looked scared; let alone this devastated!

Baelfire was standing off to the side, running a shaky hand through his thick dark hair. Eira was just coming out of her room across from the boys', rubbing her bleary eyes with her hands.

"What's wrong?" Sovann asked, the question directed at no one in particular. "What's wrong with Mother?"

Gold tried to speak, but to the shock of his children, he was too choked up to do anything other than make a short, strangled sound.

In the end, it was Baelfire who turned. "It's Dusan. He's missing."

"Missing?" All three children spoke up in unison.

"Where did he go?" Sovann asked.

"He didn't go anywhere, 'Vann," Baelfire said softly. "His window was open, and he was gone. There was dirt on the floor and windowsill. He was...he was stolen." Cringing, he corrected himself with a better word. "Kidnapped."

An eerie silence fell across the family. Arien, feeling his sister shaking, put an arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

Gold drew in a deep, shuddering breath, still holding his wife in his arms. "Baelfire, go g-get Sheriff Swan. Please." His voice trembled only a little.

Baelfire turned and ran in the direction of the stairs. Two minutes later, the family could hear his car pull out of the driveway and tear down the road.

"Da? Da, what are we going to do?" Arien asked timidly.

There was no answer for a while; Gold was staring off into the distance, a haunted look in his soulful eyes. But then he jerked himself back to reality.

"You are not going to do anything. You'll go to school in the morning, the same as always."

"Da!" Eira protested. "You can't mean that! Dusan is our brother-"

"Yes, he is, and you are all my children!" Gold snapped, his voice fierce. "I don't want to lose any of you! And that is why you are not leaving this house without an adult with you. Someone will pick you up from school tomorrow; I don't want you running off, do you understand me?"

The triplets stood there, speechless. This was quite possibly the first time Gold had ever sounded angry with them. But they nodded nonetheless.

Gold said nothing else. His shoulders sagged as though he was physically drained from the exchange, and he gently steered Belle back into their bedroom.

Shell-shocked, the children went into the boys' room. They were silent for a few minutes; the boys got into their beds.

"Can I stay in here?" Eira asked quietly.

"Of course, Eira," Sovann responded. He moved over on his bed to make room for her.

A few minutes later, Arien left his own bed and climbed onto the foot of Sovann's. Eira and Sovann shifted slightly so that he didn't fall off.

They were silent for nearly forty minutes. Then they heard a car screech back into their driveway, and saw flashing, blue-and-red lights from outside their window.

"Should we go out and see what Sheriff Swan finds?" Sovann inquired of his siblings.

"Yeah," Arien said. Eira nodded.

The three of them crept out into the hallway again. Sheriff Swan and Baelfire came up the stairs.

"What are you three doing out of bed?" Sheriff Swan asked.

"Well, you couldn't really expect us to just go back to sleep when our baby brother's been stolen!" Arien burst out, crossing his arms and scowling. "What is it with you adults, anyway?"

Sheriff Swan and Baelfire just stared at him, unmoving except for the occassional blink. Then Baelfire shook his head. "This way." He led the sheriff towards Dusan's room. The triplets trailed after them.

Dusan's room was a typical, four-year-old boy's room. Stuffed animals were all over the floor and the bed; most of these consisted of dinosaurs and dragons. Reptilian creatures were Dusan's favorite, especially the ones that could no longer be found in this world.

The sheriff moved around the room, picking things up, studying the floor, and examining the window.

"There's really no evidence here that points to who could have taken him," she said finally. "All I can tell is that he was kidnapped."

Baelfire sighed. "We had already figured that out."

"If you don't want my help, then why'd you drag me out of bed?" growled Sheriff Swan.

"We do want your help, Miss Swan." A familiar voice spoke from the doorway.

Eira, Arien, and Sovann spun around. Their father was right behind them; but he hardly seemed to notice they were there. He had his eyes on Emma Swan.

Sheriff Swan turned. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the town's troublemaker. It would figure this kind of thing happened to you, Gold. You've got the worst luck of anybody. Not that you don't deserve it. You probably do."

The triplets wouldn't let this sort of talk about their beloved father fly. Sovann, the tallest of the three (standing at 5'4), stepped forward and shoved Emma in the shoulders. Emma stumbled back, caught by surprise.

"Don't talk about our Da like that!" Eira snapped. She and Arien moved in behind Sovann, backing him up like good siblings are supposed to.

"If you don't keep your kids in line, Gold-" the sheriff began threateningly.

"It's all right, dearies," Gold said quietly, his face worn and tired. He ushered them out the door, his touch gentle, almost hesitant. "Go to your room. I promise I'll be in to check up on you after the sheriff leaves."

The children knew better than to protest. Not at a time like this; not when their father, normally very calm and collected, was so devastated. They returned to the boys' room.

About an hour later, Gold opened the door and peered in. The children were still awake; all three were huddled up on Sovann's bed, silent and clearly deep in thought.

"Dearies?" He kept his voice soft, not wanting to startle them.

All three of them turned to look at him. "Yes, Da?" Arien answered.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, earlier in the hall before the sheriff came." He stood uncertainly by the entrance to their room. "I was...I was just..."

"It's all right, we understand," Eira replied, though she still felt rather stung at his harsh words. "You're upset."

"And you have every reason to be," Sovann finished. "We all are."

Gold sighed, lowering his head for a minute and dashing the back of his hand across his eyes. "I'm very fortunate to have such understanding children," he murmured, almost to himself. Then he looked up again, and made his way over to sit on the edge of Arien's bed, across from them.

"Is Mother okay?" Arien asked.

"I'm afraid she's very distraught, dearies," Gold replied. "I think it would be best if you all kept your distance from her for a while, save for the occasional hug."

The triplets nodded.

"I had better get back to her," Gold said. "Are you three going to be all right? Do you want me to send Bae to sit up with you?"

"No, we'll be fine," Eira answered.

"Very well." Gold got to his feet, and gave them each a quick hug before leaving. "Goodnight, loves."

"Goodnight, Da," they said together.

Though they were sure they would not be able to sleep, they eventually did drift off into slumber.

When Baelfire came to check on them early the next morning, he found them curled up together, Eira and Arien pressed up to Sovann on either side. Not having the heart to wake them up so that they could get ready for school, Baelfire gently shut the door and tiptoed down the stairs to make breakfast.

After all, Belle had enough on her mind without worrying about feeding her family.


	3. Chapter 3: A Lead

Chapter Three  
A Lead

*8*8*

In the end, it was Gold who woke the children up, walking over to the bed and gently nudging them awake, with a quiet warning that they would be late for school if they did not get up.

After a small amount of fussing, Eira, Arien, and Sovann woke up, brushed their teeth, and got dressed. When they went downstairs, they quickly noticed that Belle was nowhere to be found.

Noticing their bewildered looks, Gold explained, "She wasn't feeling hungry, and preferred to stay in bed."

The children said nothing, and sat down at the table. Baelfire had made scrambled eggs and toast with jelly. The triplets thanked Baelfire for breakfast, and the rest of the meal passed in silence.

"Bae will drive you three to school," Gold said. "I have a meeting with the sheriff." His eyes betrayed just how displeased he was with the task.

"Please let us come with you," Arien begged. "We'll be good, I promise."

"I'm sorry, boy, but this isn't something you should be involved in," Gold answered. "Be a good lad and go with Bae to school, please? I'll send someone to pick you up afterwards."

Arien sighed. "Fine."

The kids got into the backseat of Baelfire's pine-tree-green Geo Storm. It was rather cramped, but they knew better than to complain. Baelfire had dark shadows under his eyes, and his hair was mussed, indicating that he had gotten little to no sleep last night.

Baelfire stopped outside of the school. "You three behave. The last thing Papa and Mother need is a note from your teacher."

"We know," Eira shot back. "We're not dumb, you know."

Baelfire opened his mouth to say something, then thought the better of it and shook his head with a quiet sigh. Without another word, he rolled up the window and cruised away.

Sovann, Eira, and Arien went into the schoolyard, avoiding the other kids. Part of it was because they didn't want to talk about what had happened the night before. The other part of it was that some of the other children were nervous around them, due to who their father was.

Baelfire had once said that he had gotten the same treatment from the village kids when he was young, but it had been far worse than a few anxious glances and the children going out of their way to avoid him.

Not that Sovann, Eira, and Arien cared. They had each other, and their family, and that was all they needed.

In fact, the only other kids they felt comfortable with were Henry, Emma's son, and Grace, Jefferson's daughter. Just like most mornings, Henry and Grace met them at the doors to the school.

"Hi, guys," Henry greeted them, his normal enthusiasm gone. Grace gave them a simple little wave.

"I suppose you heard from your mother about what happened?" Sovann said, unable to keep a begrudging tone from creeping into his voice.

"Yeah, she just said that 'one of Gold's kids had gotten kidnapped'. I was scared," he admitted. "I still am. I hope you find Dusan."

Sovann shrugged. "Da will get him back." He wished he felt as certain as he sounded.

An awkward silence fell over them. Before any of the children spoke again, the schoolbell rang. Glancing at one another, the five of them filed inside, getting to their classroom before anybody else.

*8*8*

Meanwhile, back home, Gold was trying to calm his wife down. She was crying again, and it broke his heart to hear it.

At the moment, Belle was sitting on Dusan's bed, clutching his favorite stuffed dragon and sobbing irrepressibly. Gold was seated next to her, trying to soothe her with words and take the toy dragon out of her hands at the same time.

"We'll get him back, love, I promise," he murmured, finally prying the stuffed dragon away from her and gently setting it down on Dusan's pillow.

Belle choked out something incomprehensible, her whole body shuddering. Gold gritted his teeth, hating seeing his wife like this.

"I promise," he repeated softly, unable to say anything more.

He sat there, one arm around Belle's shoulders, trying to figure out just how they were going to find Dusan and get him back. Emma didn't seem like she'd be much help; she was still angry at him for leaving her behind in the elevator, when she went to retrieve True Love from the belly of Maleficient. He supposed he couldn't really blame her.

Suddenly, Belle managed to speak. "Rum... do you think he's okay?" Her voice was small and trembling.

He held her closer. _Choose your words carefully, _he reminded himself. After a moment's thought-he couldn't afford to think too long, lest Belle think him lying-he said, "There's no way to be sure, dear, but I'm certain he's fine. This kidnapper obviously wants something from us, and he-or she-won't get anything if they hurt Dusan."

"What if they're not kidnappers and they're just murderers?" Belle's voice was even smaller now, her breath catching in her throat.

Gold swallowed hard, then licked his lips. Her words made him nervous. Slowly, hesitantly, he asked, "Belle... maybe I should use my magic?"

Her head jerked up. "No, Rumpelstiltskin. You promised me you would never use it again."

"What if it's the only way to get our son back?" Gold persisted. "Belle..."

"No." Her voice still quaked, but it was also somehow stronger; more stubborn. "I don't want to lose you to the darkness again. You're the cleverest man I've ever met; I know you'll get him back. Without using magic."

Gold gazed into her sea-blue eyes, and saw that she believed every word she had spoken just then. Gold managed a sad half-smile and pulled her into an embrace, resting his chin on her head. "All right, love. No magic. You have my word."

"Thank you," she whispered, her words muffled by his shoulder.

Gold let out a small sigh, stroking Belle's hair. He sent a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. _Please, please help us to get our son back safe and sound._

*8*8*

At recess, the Gold children had a much harder time avoiding questions. By now, every kid in Storybrooke had arrived at school, and most of them had heard things. The questions came every few seconds.

"So what happened to your little brother?"

"Is your dad out looking for him?"

"You mean the sheriff actually agreed to help you?"

Some of the questions were much crueller. They came from the scant few bullies at the school; there were only two or three, and it was suspected that they weren't related to Fairy Tale Land at all, and were simply normal people who had found their way to Storybrooke. After magic had come back, it had enabled normal people to enter their town.

"Was there blood on the floor?"

"Do you think he got murdered?"

After hearing these questions, Sovann herded Arien and Eira away from the crowds of kids, and over to a solitary birch tree.

"Ignore them," Sovann said. "They're just trying to upset us." He was proud of himself for keeping the tremor out of his voice.

"There wasn't any blood, was there, 'Vann?" Arien asked quietly. "I mean, I know it was dark, but do you think there really was any-"

Sovann cut him off. "No. There wasn't. I promise."

Eira sat down on the grass, leaning against the birch tree's trunk. She idly began braiding clovers together. "Everything'll work out fine." Though she was trying hard to be brave, she sounded uncertain.

"I want to go home," Arien said, sighing. "I want to be at home, helping Da and Mother find Dusan."

"But the best thing we can do is just behave and do what Da tells us," Sovann pointed out. He felt that, being the strongest and oldest of the three (he was, after all, nearly thirty-five minutes older than Arien, and a whole hour and two minutes older than Eira), he should be the most responsible.

"But you heard that one kid! It's a surprise that Sheriff Swan even agreed to help us. And she probably won't do much, because she hates Da," Eira said sullenly.

"Well, we can't do anything right now, so let's just concentrate on our schoolwork," Sovann reasoned. "We can try and figure out how to help when we get home." With that, he sat down next to his siblings and pulled a notebook out of his backpack. He began to write:

_Robert and Ava were surprised that the Faeries had allowed them-their new rulers-to leave the Faerie realm. Not that they were complaining; the thing they wanted most was to finish this quest and return home._

"So we're the king and queen of the Faerie Realm now?" Ava asked Robert, carefully stepping over a large, fallen branch.

"I guess so," Robert said distractedly.

"I wish Pearce could have been here to see the ceremony." She spoke wistfully of their missing friend.

Robert said nothing. He missed Pearce as much as Ava did, but there was nothing they could do but keep on going. Hopefully, if they made it to the end of this quest, they would get him back.

*8*8*

Gold was busy vacuuming the living room when the doorbell rang. He turned off the vacuum cleaner, about to go answer it.

"Don't worry, Papa, I'll get it!" Baelfire called from in the kitchen. He was making lunch for them; Belle was still up in the bedroom, trying to compose herself. She had been at it for nearly three hours, but hadn't managed yet. Gold supposed he couldn't blame her.

Of course, that meant Gold and Baelfire had to do the 'women's work'. Not that they minded. Gold actually found the jobs of vacuuming and dusting relaxing; it didn't require a lot of concentration.

He resumed vacuuming, but had to stop yet again when Baelfire walked into the living room leading-who else?-Emma Swan behind him.

"Well, well, Gold. Reduced to housecleaning?" She smirked, looking at the apron he was wearing.

Gold ignored the jibe, saying, "Have you found anything?"

"I talked to the guy in that house down the road. MacAvoy. You might know him?"

"Aye, he's one of the newcomers. No magic blood. What about him?" Gold untied the apron strings and draped it over the armchair.

"I asked him if he saw anything suspicious, and he said a van of some kind drove past his house last night at about half-past midnight, heading west. He said he was up late last night reading, but judging from the aspirin in his hand and the way his breath stank of liquor, I'd say that isn't very true." Emma scoffed, flipping her blond hair out of her face. "It's a lead, anyway."

"That's beyond the point," Gold replied, keeping his voice calm. "Did he say anything else?"

"Nah. Nothing else helpful, that is." She leaned against the wall. "Anyway, the reason I'm here, is because I was wondering if you two would like to come with me to go west past MacAvoy's house to see what we can find. Most likely there'll be nothing, but we might get a general idea of what's down that way...and whether there's any places a kidnapper could hide out."

Baelfire glanced at Gold, awaiting for a response. Gold nodded. "We'll come. Let me go upstairs and tell Belle where we're going." He headed for the stairs.

Before entering their room, he knocked. "Belle, love?"

"Come in."

He did so. She was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was no longer weeping; he supposed she had finally run out of the energy or the tears.

"Sheriff Swan is here. She wants me and Bae to come with her to go search for evidence down the road. We'll only be gone for a few hours, at most. Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine." Belle sat up, putting on her bravest face.

"You're sure?" Gold took her hand in his.

"Yes, I'm sure. Go on. Just try to be back by suppertime," Belle answered, gently squeezing his hand.

Gold nodded. "I will." He turned to leave.

"Rum?" Her voice stopped him.

"Aye?" He looked over his shoulder.

"You and Bae be careful." Her tone was plaintive. Pleading.

"We will. I love you, Belle." And he had never meant anything as much as he meant those words.

"I love you too, Rum." She gave him a shaky smile.

Then he left. As he reached the front door with Baelfire and Emma, he remembered something. "I'll be but a minute. I need to call someone to pick up the kids from school." Ignoring Emma's groan of impatience, he went to the telephone and contacted someone he was fairly sure he could trust.

With that, the three set off.

-X-X-X-

**Author's Note: **Heh heh. I couldn't help but infuse several little things in there. For those of you who are obsessed with Robert Carlyle, you might find the names 'Robert and Ava' in Sovann's story familiar. If you're _really _obsessed, you should recognize the name 'Pearce' in that same story too.  
And the name 'MacAvoy' should also ring a bell with those with acute Carlylitis. ;)


	4. Chapter 4: Doing Something

**Author's Note: **Right, so. Things'll start getting more tense in this chapter. No fighting or arguing or the like, but something will happen that changes the entire story at the moment.  
Also, I might start taking longer to update this. I have a bunch of stuff going on right now; I'm struggling with my Geometry and Biology, I'm trying to finish editing an original novel I finished last November, my mom's cat is sick with kidney failure, so... yeah, there's a lot going on. I'm also working on several different fanfictions at once (namely "The Druid's Secret"; I'm very excited for that one, since it's the most original idea I've come up with for a long time, and it might help with my study skills in school, since I have to do a lot of research for it).  
So if I take forever to update, shoot me a PM and remind me to get a move on!

-X-X-X-

Later, they were all eating dinner. This time it was a simple soup-and-salad combination; the quickest thing Belle could put together. The tea party had gone on a lot longer than she had expected.

"So how did the meeting with the sheriff go?" Arien inquired a few minutes into the meal.

Baelfire and Gold exchanged glances, and an unspoken conversation passed between them.

Then Gold sighed. "It went... poorly."

"What happened?" Belle asked, concern written all over her face.

"Nothing," Baelfire sighed. "Absolutely nothing. We didn't find any sort of hideout, and we even talked to that one fellow, MacAvoy. He was no help; he had an awful hangover and couldn't do anything but mumble."

Eira frowned. "You should have let us help. We could have found something, I bet."

"No," Gold said firmly. "I don't want to risk it. Please, just stay here at home and don't worry about it. Bae and I are doing everything we can."

Eira started to protest, but Sovann gave her a gentle kick under the table. She closed her mouth, shooting him an annoyed glance.

"Was this man nice?" Arien asked. "MacAvoy, I mean?"

"Mostly," Baelfire amended. "He was a little short-tempered and snappish, but I think that's because of all the liquor he drank last night. He seemed to be an amiable person deep down, though."

An uncomfortable quiet fell upon the family, and no one said a word until after dinner had ended.

"All right, dearies. Go and get ready for bed," Gold said, taking the dishes over to the sink.

"What?" Eira was incredulous. "What about watching a movie? That's what we always get to do on Friday nights."

"Please go and get ready for bed," Gold repeated. There was a wordless plea in his voice, and the triplets quickly made their way upstairs.

*8*8*

After they had all taken showers, Gold came and put them all to bed. However, an hour later, Eira sneaked back into the boys' room. They had already planned to meet up to talk about the current situation.

"I know Da and Bae are doing everything they can to find Dusan," Arien said. "But I don't think they're doing enough. After all, Da'll have to go back to work sometime, and Bae only has another week or so before he has to go back to college."

"Well, what can _we_ do? We have school," Sovann pointed out.

"We've got good grades," Arien answered. "Besides, it's the weekend tomorrow. I think we should go over to that man MacAvoy's house and host a reconnaissance mission, like in the movies."

"But the guy already made it clear that he doesn't know anything," Sovann said.

"Look, do you want to find Dusan or not?" Arien demanded. "His house is the best place to start. If we don't find anything, we can keep going west. I bet Da, Sheriff Swan, and Bae didn't search the woods."

"That's because the woods here are dangerous," Sovann muttered. "Da says deadly creatures live there."

"Then why wouldn't a kidnapper go there to hide?" persisted Arien. "It only makes sense!"

"Sovann..." Eira started hesitantly. "He's right, you know."

"We're just kids," Sovann protested.

"But think of the stories Mum and Da told us," Eira countered. "If what they say is true, we're the kids of Rumpelstiltskin and Belle-the Dark One and one of the bravest women in Fairy Tale Land. Don't you think if any 'kids' would be capable of this, it would be us?"

Sovann sighed. "All right. But at the first sign of danger, we have to come back."

Arien leapt off of the bed. "Fantastic! Eira, go into your room and get ready. And be quiet."

Eira nodded and disappeared into the hallway. Arien went over to his dresser. He took off his pajamas and put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt. It had a picture of a glowing forest on it, and said, "Magic is everywhere" on the front. On the back, it sported the image of a fiery sword, continuing, "If you would only open your eyes".

Sovann, still mumbling things under his breath, pulled on black jeans and a black shirt that had no words on it, but showed the picture of a wolf howling at the moon.

"We shouldn't bring too much," Arien decided. "Just some food, water, and a weapon of some kind for each of us."

"Weapons?" reiterated Sovann. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Arien started for the door. "Find some weaponry of some kind. I'll go get provisions."

Marveling at the fact that Arien was taking this too seriously (or had been watching too many action movies), Sovann wandered around the room, searching in the dresser drawers and on the desk.

When his siblings returned, he had found two pocketknifes. "Weapons aren't exactly common around here, " he defended himself.

"I can use a staff," Arien volunteered. "Mine is downstairs. Shaun has been teaching me how to use it." According to Henry, Shaun was actually Little John from the legends of Robin Hood. That would explain his canny skill with a staff.

"All right, are we all ready?" Sovann whispered.

Eira pulled on her gray sweatshirt. "Ready."

"Ready." Arien nodded once.

"Come on, then." Sovann headed for the door and crept out into the hallway. He looked both ways; there was no sign of life from either Baelfire's room or their parents'.

The three went downstairs, careful to skip the step second from the top-it was the only one that creaked if you stepped on it.

Arien made a detour to the front door to grab his staff-a rod of dark red, polished wood that was just a few inches taller than he was-and then followed his brother and sister into the backyard.

"Do we even know where we're going?" Eira whispered as they stole away down the street.

"Da said MacAvoy's house was down that way." Sovann pointed to the west. "I think we've passed it once or twice when he was taking us for a drive. I'll recognize it when I see it."

"Da is going to be extremely angry when he finds out where we've been," Eira said after a minute of silence.

"He won't stay angry for long," Arien promised. "He never does."

"But the worst thing any of us have ever done was skip school..."

"He won't stay angry for long," Arien repeated. "Okay?"

Eira frowned, clearly disbelieving of Arien's statement, but said nothing else. The three siblings continued down the road, the only light coming from the occassional street lamp and a small pen light that Eira held in her hand.

-X-X-X-

**Author's Note: **I know, I know, that was short. But at least I'm getting into the excitement now! Review and let me know how you liked it. ^^


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